1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gaming system that navigates a dealer in game advancement.
2. Related Art
Various table games are known conventionally, and among the table games, there exists a game genre called card games.
Among card games, for example, there is a game called baccarat as disclosed in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 7,419,160 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). Here, baccarat is a game in which bets are made on any of a “Player (player position)”, “Banker (banker position)”, and “Tie (draw)” (however, there may be a case in which “Tie” is not a target for betting), which are the bet targets, and awards winnings, based on the bet amount that is bet, to a player having bet on a bet target of a winning side. In addition, in baccarat, cards are distributed to the “player” side and the “banker” side, and winnings are determined based on the cards thus distributed.
Card games such as baccarat are established in casinos, and since a dealer, for casino games, advances the game, it is necessary for the dealer to be proficient in game advancement. However, for countries in which development of casinos has only started, there has been a problem in that there is a shortage of dealers proficient in game advancement.
In addition, a system for advancing a game by reading information embedded in cards used for a card game, by means of an IC chip embedded therein or information printed thereon with special ink, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,334 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2). In such a system, all cards require the IC chip or printing with the special ink, and therefore a manufacturing cost of the cards becomes high. Cards used in casinos are generally discarded unconditionally after used once or for a predetermined number of times in a game, in order to avoid fraud. This is for avoiding a numeral or a symbol of the card from being distinguished from a reverse face of the card placed face-down due to a flaw or a fold made during use, and for avoiding marking on the card by a malicious player. As a result, with a method of using an IC chip storing data to be read attached to the card, such as sealing an IC tag that can communicate in a contactless manner in the card and the like, a running cost becomes high.
In addition, a system for reading a symbol of a card used for a card game by scanning the card with a card recognition scanner provided on a game field is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,808 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 3). In such a case, since cards must be inserted into the card recognition scanner one by one for scanning of the symbol, an inexperienced dealer may show a numeral or a symbol of the card during the operation.
Meanwhile, card games generally have strict rules for order, method, position and the like in the distribution of cards. In addition, the timing and duration of betting are complexly defined for each game. In card games, the dealer's handling of cards based on the numeral and the symbol on the card is naturally important; however, the dealer's behavior before and during the distribution of cards is even more important for determining a result of a game. Although Patent Document 3 discloses an invention of reading a numeral and a symbol of a card and giving an instruction to a dealer based on data being read, the invention cannot be applied to the distribution of cards.
As described above, a dealer is required to strictly act during the distribution of cards, handling of bets, advancement of a game and the like; however, in a situation where the number of experienced dealers is insufficient, there is a need for a system allowing an inexperienced dealer to strictly advance a game.